Jingzhou, early November.
As the dry season approached and the waters of the Yangtze gradually receded, Yue Jin's scouts grew bolder by the day, venturing farther south with each passing morning. Only then did the defenders of Dangyang come to realize that their commander possessed an archery skill that bordered on the supernatural.
In the past, dealing with prying scouts had been a simple matter. The city walls and watchtowers were more than enough to drive them off.
But General Huang Zhong, despite his silver hair, was a man of astonishing vigor.
He ate with an appetite that put younger men to shame, regularly polishing off ten catties of meat in a sitting, and could still draw a heavy war bow while mounted on a galloping steed. Every few days, he personally led a small detachment out through the gates to sweep the perimeter.
If Yue Jin's scouts were even a moment too slow in retreating, they usually ended up with a single, perfectly placed arrow through the heart.
As a result, while enemy scouting activity had intensified, the immediate surroundings of Dangyang remained eerily quiet.
For the common folk of Dangyang, life had changed little since the nightmare of the great armies passing through months earlier. The only noticeable difference was that the price of rice and cloth had fallen, and the new General Huang spoke with a gentle warmth that made him easy to approach.
The lack of enemy progress made the gate guards somewhat lax.
Two soldiers leaned against their spears, whispering in the shadows.
"Hey, did you hear? They say General Zhang's been sentenced to hard labor!"
The other soldier's eyes immediately lit up.
"Brother, your news is ancient. Word now is that General Zhang's command was stripped entirely. They say the Lord even cut off a sleeve of his robe to show their brotherhood is over!"
"Oh? Were you under General Zhang's banner before being transferred to General Huang?"
"Yeah, I served directly under Zhang Fei himself."
"That explains how you know so much."
The idle gossip of the rank and file, however, did nothing to stop the real Zhang Fei from sweating buckets as he pushed a small wooden cart along the dirt road.
Naturally, he had not been sentenced to labor, and Liu Bei certainly had not severed their brotherhood.
After the Light Screen's transmission ended, Guan Yu, Wei Yan, and Zhao Yun had all returned to their respective posts.
Zhang Fei, however, had found himself short on supplies in Linju and had gone to Gong'an to request a grain transfer from Liu Bei.
The request had been approved immediately.
But after the grain was loaded, Liu Bei had informed him with a perfectly straight face that they were short on pack horses. One particular cart of grain would therefore have to be pushed back to Linju by Zhang Fei personally.
Fine.
Pushing a cart was hardly a problem.
From Gong'an to Linju was barely two hundred li.
And so here was Zhang Fei, huffing and puffing as he wrestled with a one-wheeled contraption that the Military Advisor called a "Wooden Ox."
It was stacked dangerously high with sacks of grain, and the Third General was making the long journey home with an increasingly sore back.
Back atop the battlements of Gong'an, Zhuge Liang stood at a high vantage point, gazing into the distance.
In one hand, he held a small notebook, meticulously recording his observations.
"It seems the Wooden Ox still requires further refinement. Even Yide is struggling quite a bit with the balance."
He tapped the page lightly with the tip of his brush.
"If the cargo is stacked too high, it becomes unstable. Perhaps we should add a support frame, or maybe a kickstand."
Liu Bei stood beside him, his expression still somewhat sour from his brother's recent antics, though the worry in his eyes betrayed his concern for the man pushing the cart.
"Since my lord seems so reluctant to watch him suffer, perhaps we should simply send two pack horses after him," Kongming said with a teasing smile.
"Yide and that mouth of his…"
Liu Bei shook his head and deliberately looked away.
He then followed Kongming down from the battlements and onto the streets of Gong'an.
They passed street hawkers and peddlers, watching the bustling crowds.
Compared to a year ago, the people looked far more spirited. Most could now afford to eat their fill.
It was a sight that brought a rare and genuine smile to Liu Bei's face.
However, while Zhang Fei had departed for Linju, he had also left behind an enormous headache for Liu Bei to deal with.
Upon returning to the County Office, Liu Bei looked at the youth standing before him.
The boy was young, his skin tanned to a deep copper by the sun, and his hands were rough and calloused from years spent working on the river.
"My Lord!"
The youth bowed deeply.
Liu Bei immediately waved both hands.
"I am not your lord."
This was the "trouble" Zhang Fei had dumped on him.
Kongming watched the scene with amusement glimmering in his eyes before asking gently, "Gan Gui, are you still refusing to return to Wu?"
The boy raised his head defiantly.
"I want to follow Lord Xuande back to my ancestral home."
"Isn't your home in Wu?" Kongming asked. "You said so yourself. You are the son of Gan Xingba, and your father is a famed general under the Sun clan."
Gan Gui shook his head so hard that his hair flew.
"Ever since I was little, the old man always told me this: as long as you're alive, remember you're a man of Linjiang. Even if you die, your soul must follow the Yangtze back home to Linjiang first."
Kongming patiently tried to reason with him.
"Lord Xuande is the Governor of Jingzhou, not Yizhou. He has no way to take you back to your hometown in the west."
The youth was utterly unconvinced.
"You're lying again. General Zhang told me himself. Lord Jingzhou will become Lord Yizhou sooner or later."
The last shred of guilt Liu Bei felt over Zhang Fei's "punishment" instantly vanished.
The man truly could not keep a secret to save his life.
Sighing, Liu Bei sat down cross-legged on the wooden porch and gestured for the boy to do the same.
"Gan Gui… I remember Yide saying you admitted that you sneaked out on your own?"
The boy nodded, his expression dimming as he recalled the memory.
"When Chief Commander Zhou Yu passed away, the old man cried the entire night. Then he spent the next week drowning himself in wine."
"He said that in Wu, the only one we could rely on to get us home was the Chief Commander. Now that he's gone, the old man says we'll both end up as wandering ghosts after death."
His voice softened.
"I didn't like hearing that."
"The old man used to tell me stories about when he was a river pirate in his youth. I figured I could do the same…"
His face fell.
"…then General Zhang caught me."
At the mention of his capture, the boy looked thoroughly deflated.
Liu Bei nodded slowly.
"So when Master Jian Yong told you he was from Yizhou, you attacked him instead of stopping."
Liu Bei had long heard of the old grudge between Gan Ning and Liu Zhang.
Years ago, when tensions between Jing Province and Yi Province had been high, Gan Ning had been incited to rebel against Liu Zhang.
After his defeat at the hands of Zhao Wei, Gan Ning had become a wanderer, a man with a home he could no longer return to.
Jian Yong had nearly died because of a grudge older than the boy now sitting before them.
"Why doesn't Gan Xingba simply swallow his pride and apologize to Liu Zhang?" Liu Bei suggested. "Zhao Wei is gone. If your father offered a formal apology, he could surely return to his post as a Deputy Prefect."
Gan Gui's eyes widened, then he shook his head violently.
"The old man has hated Liu Yizhou since he was young. If you asked him to bow his head now, he'd rather remain a wandering ghost for all eternity."
Liu Bei stared at Gan Gui, his mind already racing with possibilities.
He was reluctant to step on Sun Quan's toes, but the boy's persistence was difficult to ignore.
"My Lord, I can train a navy. I can help General Guan."
Gan Gui pounded his chest, the sound echoing through the hall.
Yide really talks too much…
Liu Bei could feel his resolve wavering.
Guan Yu had already mentioned that training the navy was proving difficult.
The men recruited from Lei Xu were not true sailors. They were bandits who merely happened to possess boats.
They lacked discipline, formation work, and the specialized maneuvers of a proper naval force.
Mi Zhu had even tried to "buy" the training methods of Wu's navy, but had returned empty-handed.
"My Lord, I can even bring over the old man's eight hundred personal retainers."
Gan Gui spoke with complete confidence.
"As long as you promise to take us home, you are our lord."
Liu Bei immediately reached out and gripped the boy's hands firmly.
"With Gan Gui's help, I have gained more than ten thousand elite troops."
Gan Gui beamed with delight.
Just wait, old man. The lord I found is far better than yours. Just wait until I bring you back home.
Kongming had already slipped away, having seen exactly how this would end.
Zhou Yu's death had sent ripples through Wu's power structure, and Gan Ning's frustration was only the beginning.
Zhuge Liang recalled his earlier conversations with Lu Su.
It was no secret that Lü Meng and Gan Ning were both hot-tempered men who frequently clashed.
Gan Ning had been obsessed with invading Yizhou, a plan Zhou Yu had strongly supported, which was precisely why he had once been so highly favored.
But with Zhou Yu gone, Gan Ning had become like a rootless weed.
He likely saw the changing winds more clearly than anyone.
Now that Gan Gui had "accidentally" defected to Liu Bei, Gan Ning would most likely turn a blind eye even if he learned of it.
Kongming did, however, find himself wondering what fate had originally been recorded for the boy in the history books.
Shaking the thought from his mind, he entered a small courtyard.
The sharp scent of bitter medicinal herbs immediately filled his nostrils.
A bright and charming smile spread across his face.
"Physician Zhang, how is the progress on the medicinal powders we discussed?"